Excerpt:
A San Francisco-based appeals court on Thursday delivered a stinging rebuke of President Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees, rejecting the administration's request to resume the travel ban and setting up a potential showdown in the Supreme Court.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a nationwide restraining order against Trump's temporary travel ban may continue while a federal judge considers a lawsuit over the policy, and it forcefully asserted the judiciary's independent authority to act as a check on executive power.
"We hold that the government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay," the court said.